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1) Dunno only distinction I know is that tokoro can be a place in time, while basho is reserved for actual places.
2) Probably
3) I can't remember a single time I even used ga or ha in a sentence like this ...so I dunno I use ga/ha by intuition not rules ^^°
4) I think koto was meant here
5) I think your pal doesn't want you to catch a cold so you should be careful not to get infected

rep thingie) I never figured that out either...I only know how to ban guys ^^°

3) "海外に行ったことはありますか？"
Why is it は instead of が? I thought with ある/いる, が was used )':

I think you can use both particles, but there's a difference in the meaning:
- when you use が it means "to have (i.e. to own) X"
- when you use は it means "X exists" (meaning "There is X")

Examples:

車がある。 (I have a car.)
道に車はある。 (There is a car in the street.)

By the way, the sentence you written means "Have you (ever) traveled overseas?"
Compare it with "海外に行ったか？", which means "Did you travel overseas?" (e.g., last month)

I think you can understand the difference between them.

And if you say "海外に行ったことはない。" it would mean "I haven't traveled overseas (before)."
Compare it with "海外に行かない。", which means "I didn't travel overseas."

edit: haha wait, I do have another question! How do you give people rep on these boards? XD

Look below the person's avatar and info (to the left-hand side of any post). At the bottom, you'll see three icons. The first one says whether the user is online or offline; the second one is for giving reps; and the third one is for reporting posts (for spam, abuse, etc.). Note that you have to write your name in the comment if you want the person to know who repped them.

3. Usually 'ga' because we know who the subject is (being asked directly to oneself) but now the 'gaikai ni itta koto' becomes the subject of the sentence.

4. Note that 'toko' is slang for 'tokoro', which of course means "place" but with this context it means "Are there areas in which Japanese is difficult for you?" or "Are there places where you have trouble with?".

3. Usually 'ga' because we know who the subject is (being asked directly to oneself) but now the 'gaikai ni itta koto' becomes the subject of the sentence.

o__O;
But isn't the person still the subject as the question is about them? Or is it like, the question is now about going abroad, and whether or not you've done it is a secondary thing?
Maybe I'm just stupid after all

Originally Posted by AzureDark

5. Your friend had translated 風邪ひきに気をつけて literally.

Is this a common thing to close a message with in Japanese? It just seemed such a random thing, since it came completely out of the blue, we hadn't mentioned illness or cold weather or anything.

The difference is that 所 means "place" as in "a place, that place (over there)"; it refers strictly to a proper location. When it comes to '場所 (or really just '場; you don't really need to have them together), it means "place" as well, but more for a situation, than a location, like "I lost my place (in the book)" or "I would (or wouldn't) want to be in your place (position)". Its more flexible.

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

2) Does '~と読む' mean 'to read as'?

It does but...how should I say this...context will dictate how to use it. It could mean "to read as" as well as "read and (do some other action)". Context will change the meaning. Adding the と at the beginning is not really necessary.

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

3) "海外に行ったことはありますか？"
Why is it は instead of が? I thought with ある/いる, が was used )':

There is no hard and fast rule on when to use "wa" and when to use "ga", but there is something that you can keep in mind. "Wa" focuses attention on what is being said/asked about the subject, as in what the subject is, what they are like or what they are doing/have done, meaning the actions or descriptions of a person. "Ga" is focuses attention on who or what does the action or who/what is being described, meaning the subject of the sentence.

In your example, you are asking a person WHAT they have done. You are focusing on their ACTION rather focusing on WHO is doing the action. Its already clear who did the action, you are talking to them, so you do not need to point it out.

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

4) "日本語で難しいとこはありますか？"
What's とこ? Or did they mean to type こと?

Its supposed to written "日本語で難しいことはありますか?"

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

5) One of my penpals closed a message with 'Be careful catch a cold'. Wat? I don't know what she was trying to say so I can't correct it. Anyone got any clue?

It does but...how should I say this...context will dictate how to use it. It could mean "to read as" as well as "read and (do some other action)". Context will change the meaning. Adding the と at the beginning is not really necessary.

I getcha! She was just telling me that I'd spelt 'lesson' wrong (I put レッソン instead of レッスン, or something) so it almost certainly meant 'read as'. I was just making sure

Thanks for your help! And thanks to everyone else too. It's really nice of you all to come on here and help noobs like me P:

所 and 場所 and 場 are the same, it means "place" (but 場 by itself is usually used in conjunction with other words, and can be read "ba" or "jou" depending on context... ex. スキー場 sukiijou "A skiing place (like mountain with snow)" )

ところ / とこ(interchangable, toko is slangish, so when speaking properly to someone you must say tokoro) = the things about something / a place in time in relation to verb
1. Most people when writing about place use kanji and when writting about abstract thing like 君の嫌いなところ the things I hate about you... 日本のどんなところが好きですか？ what things to you like about Japan? etc. they only use hiragana for tokoro or toko.
2. Also, when used in conjunction with verb, past + ところ = "I just ..." dictionary tense + ところ = "I am just about to ..." and present progressive (transitive verb in -teiru form) + ところ = "Am in the middle of ..."

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

2) Does '~と読む' mean 'to read as'?

to is a particle that denotes 引用 (quotation) type things (as well as other uses), so whenever the verbs, 言う 読む 叫ぶ 話す 喋る etc. (all talking/reading/dealing with words) と読む = "is read as..." 愛と書いて、「こい」と読む。 "Written as Ai (kanji) but read as "koi""

in replacement of to you can also use "tte" って which is more coloquial. 僕、ビリーっていうんだｗ Hey, I'm billy! (usually when you say "I am called" usage of iu, people don't use kanji.)

but the person who was teaching you used proper Japanese for writing,

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

3) "海外に行ったことはありますか？"
Why is it は instead of が? I thought with ある/いる, が was used )':

To explain wa / ga in two easy sentences.

1. aru / iru / some other verbs normally use "ga" for normal subject, and all other verbs (including だ/です/である "to be") without context will use "wa" (written as「は」)
2. When the opposite of what should be used is used, it is for emphasis of the subject.
ex. 私は教師です。(I am a teacher (no context)) (他の人は違いますが…etc.)私が教師です。(I am the teacher. (out of the group that I was just talking about, etc. it implies that "I" am the ONLY one, (or at least I think "I" am the only one) used for emphasis))
ex. 公園に子供がいます。 (There are kids in the park) (大人はいませんが…etc.)公園に子供はいます。 (There are KIDS in the park (but no adults... etc))

So if they said "koto ga arimasuka?" or "koto arimasuka?" it would mean just "have you ever gone overseas? (btw, "overseas" means "foreign country" to Japanese person)" but using wa makes it "(maybe you've never come to Japan...... etc.) but WHAT ABOUT OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES, have you ever gone to one?" type nuance

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

4) "日本語で難しいとこはありますか？"
What's とこ? Or did they mean to type こと?

ohhhhh, see above explanation of tokoro / toko... it is not koto

Originally Posted by Anyaaa

5) One of my penpals closed a message with 'Be careful catch a cold'. Wat? I don't know what she was trying to say so I can't correct it. Anyone got any clue?

風邪に気を付けて下さい is what she meant... "be careful not to catch cold please" is meaning, but in Japanese usually we don't use the verb "catching" when to say to be careful... we literally say "be careful of cold"

Thank you so much Dabura! I really appreciate your help! It's very kind of you to provide so much interesting information! I'd never heard of the verb+tokoro before, I'll be sure to try that one out in conversation soon lol